In a sweeping move that could reshape the fight against child sexual exploitation in the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan Police has announced it will reexamine approximately 9,000 cases of child exploitation and suspected grooming gangs in London, spanning the past 15 years. The decision follows mounting public scrutiny and damning reports of systemic failures to protect vulnerable children—failures that have left victims without justice and perpetrators free to offend again.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley revealed the ambitious review in a letter to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Friday evening, October 24, 2025. According to Evening Standard, Sir Mark stated, “The Met is undertaking an assessment of all such offences over the past 15 years, alongside all other forces. The current criteria will require us to re-assess approximately 9,000 investigations over the period, approximately 600 per year, to identify whether there are any potential missed or new investigative lines of enquiry or extant risks, including any safeguarding requirements or opportunities to bring offenders to justice.”
The initial assessments are slated for completion by April 2026. This unprecedented review comes in the wake of a Standard investigation that uncovered harrowing accounts of young girls across London reporting rape by multiple men, only to see police action falter or fail entirely. In some cases, children as young as 11 saw trials against their alleged attackers collapse, leaving them exposed to further abuse.
These revelations have spurred not just local action but national introspection. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) released a progress report on the same day, highlighting both progress and persistent “significant challenges” in how police forces tackle grooming gangs and child exploitation. The watchdog found that only 37% of child exploitation cases were accurately flagged in police systems, with inconsistent definitions and poor national coordination undermining efforts to protect at-risk children. The inspectorate warned that opportunities to safeguard children are still being missed, despite some improvements over the past two years.
Among the most troubling findings was the mismatch between how the Metropolitan Police and local London authorities record child abuse. A government-ordered audit earlier in 2025 found that the Met logged 2.77 contact child sexual abuse cases per 1,000 children, while boroughs recorded just 1.3 child-in-need assessments for child sexual exploitation and 1.79 for child sexual abuse. This gap isn't just a bureaucratic quirk—it means some children are slipping through the cracks.
Sir Mark Rowley acknowledged the gravity of the situation: “Any sexual offending against children is abhorrent but group-based offending, including that characterised as ‘Grooming Gangs’, is particularly insidious and devastating in its profound impact on the children affected.” He added that Scotland Yard is currently investigating 716 cases of child sexual abuse involving lone or multiple offenders, and 654 cases of child criminal exploitation reported since April 1, 2025.
The human cost of these failures is heartbreakingly clear in the stories of victims. Olivia, a 17-year-old from Lambeth, was found in March 2022 under the influence of drugs and alcohol, in a hotel room with six adult men. She alleged that two men raped her while others filmed the attack. Despite being reported missing 59 times during her time in care, and facing multiple allegations of rape, physical assault, and indecent image circulation, the response was often inadequate. According to a Lambeth Council review, there were instances where Olivia was blamed for “placing herself at risk.”
Another case, detailed by Croydon Council, involved Chloe, who came to police attention at age 11 and reported being raped before her 12th birthday. Medical tests revealed she had contracted three sexually transmitted diseases. A trial ended with a not guilty verdict for her alleged attacker, and Chloe tragically took her own life at 17 after years of instability in care.
Then there is Mara, a 15-year-old found with two adult men days after going missing from care. Despite alleging rape in 2021 while in foster care, referrals and medical examinations were delayed. After being found, she spent nearly 24 hours in a police station and two nights in a hotel before a new placement was arranged.
These stories, though deeply distressing, are not isolated. According to BBC News, the inspectorate’s progress report shows that police forces have made gains, such as the widespread adoption of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) definition of group-based child sexual exploitation and the implementation of culture change programs to reduce victim-blaming. Michelle Skeer, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, noted, “Forces are increasingly responding decisively and swiftly to reports involving vulnerable children at risk of sexual exploitation. As a result, more children are being safeguarded and more suspects are being arrested.”
Yet, Skeer warned that inconsistent definitions and delays in investigations mean the true scale of the problem remains unclear. The report includes six recommendations, chief among them the universal use of the IICSA’s definition of an “organised network” and improvements in data collection. More than half of police forces still fail to include data from partners such as charities or social services in their assessments. Without a universal definition, victims face what Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, called a “postcode lottery” in protection access.
The government’s response has been mixed. A Home Office spokeswoman acknowledged, “This report shows important progress. Government investment, totalling almost £10 million this financial year alone, has given police the tools they need to tackle these vile crimes. But there is more to do, as recent days have shown.” The government has also launched a new national police operation, Operation Beaconport, to review closed cases of child sexual exploitation, and is working to improve data collection on suspect ethnicity.
Meanwhile, the government’s national inquiry into grooming gangs, announced in June 2025 by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, has faced delays, the loss of two chair candidates, and the resignation of five women from the victims liaison panel. Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticized the government, stating, “This report is devastating for Labour. It confirms that, despite repeated promises, the Home Office still hasn’t adopted the key definition of group-based child sexual exploitation. By refusing to use it, the Government is keeping the system blind to patterns of abuse that destroyed thousands of lives.”
The Metropolitan Police, for its part, insists it is “utterly committed to protecting vulnerable children and bringing those responsible to justice.” A spokeswoman told Evening Standard, “There is still much work to be done, including encouraging reporting of offences so we have the fullest possible picture, but we have made significant improvements in the past decade to enable us to do that effectively.”
As the Met embarks on its massive review, and as national inquiries and watchdog reports keep the pressure on, the hope is that lessons will finally be learned—and that the next generation of vulnerable children will not be failed in the same way.
